Hiking
by Piper Emerald
Summary: Matsuda had the "brilliant" idea of taking the entire task force on a hike to distract from the current lull in the Kira case. Things take a turn for the worst when a harmless race results in Light and L getting separated from the group and the trail. Oneshot. (I own nothing.)


"You're not going to have the chance to eat all of that," Light commented as he surveyed the amount of sweets that L was attempting to shove into a backpack.

"Don't be so certain, Light-kun," L replied. "I'm sure I'll find the time."

"Well, after the first few minutes you're going to get tired of carrying it," Light informed him.

"It's not heavy, but I could always have you carry it instead," L suggested.

"No," Light responded. "I'm not carrying you're portable dessert wagon, because you're not bring it."

With that Light attempted to pull the bag out of L's hands, but L quickly held it out of his reach.

"You don't nee candy on a hike!" Light exclaimed in exasperation.

"Yes I do," L said patiently. "But I will leave it behind if you leave something behind as well."

"What?" Light asked, he had only planned to bring a water bottle and extra sunscreen with him.

"Your cellphone," L decided after pondering what he would make Light give up.

"Why?" Light probably would have brought the device, but it wasn't as if he would have much use for it.

"Anyone you would call will be with us anyway," L stated.

"Misa's not coming," Light pointed out.

"Perfect," L declared. "She can watch your cellphone and my sweets while we are gone."

"Hang on, I didn't agree to-"

"Amane-san!" With that L was pulling Light out go the room.

The hike had been Matsuda's 'brilliant idea.' Light truthfully did not want to go, but, since the rest of the task force hadn't objected, and, with the current lull in the case, he didn't have anything else to do, he had refrained from objecting. He was more than a little surprised that L hadn't vetoed the trip, and instead had indifferently agreed. Light pinned L's compliance on his momentary depression, but that figured that within the first mile the detective would find himself either bored with the activity or tired of the exercise. Unfortunately neither happened.

"L slow down," Light whined as he forced his feet to continue up the trail that was slowly increasing in steepness. "If you pull on the handcuffs any harder my wrist is going to bruise."

"It's not my fault that you can't keep up," L remarked over his shoulder.

"Yes," Light tugged softly on the chain with his free hand. "It is exactly your fault because you refused to take off the handcuffs for a few short hours."

"If I take off the hand cuffs it will give you the opportunity to kill me and the rest of the task force." L's tone did not leave it's usual monotone as he informed Light of this, and, as if enjoying Light's discomfort, quickened his pace.

"Ow!" Light's voice reached an octave higher than he was comfortable. "Stop pulling or I will hold on to your hair as a leash."

He honestly wasn't sure where this idea had come from, but, as he eyed L's tauntingly long locks, he knew was absolutely serious.

"Go ahead." Either L didn't care of didn't expect Light to follow through on this threat.

"Fine." With that, Light extended his arm and grasped a hand-full of L's surprisingly soft hair. He continued to walk at the pace he had been keeping, while L made no attempt to slow down.

"That hurts. Let go," L ordered after a few seconds.

"No," Light refused, a smirk forming on his face.

"Let go or I will kick you," L challenged.

"If you kick me I could fall and hit my head, and then you're have to carry me for the rest of the hike," Light smoothly pointed out.

Although he doubted that L's blow would be hard enough to cause such results. However, L considered what Light had said for a moment before replying.

"I'll bite you, then," L told him.

"Yeah right," Light couldn't help but laugh. "You're not going to actually bite me, Ryuzaki."

Light's shout of: "You bit me!" could be heard from where the rest of the task force were walking a little ways down the trail.

* * *

"This is stupid," Light decided once he was able to maintain L's speed.

"Do you want to race?" L asked eagerly.

"You realize that we're chained together, right?" Light deadpanned.

"No not race me, race the team," L clarified, gesturing to the group that wasn't very far behind them at this point.

"Fine," Light wasn't in the mood to run, but he didn't expect L to take no for an answer. "I'll go tell Matsuda-"

"No." L tugged on the chain when Light attempted to turn around. "Once we start running the others will figure it out."

"And if they don't?" Light asked skeptically.

"Then they don't deserve to be in my investigation," L's tone was matter-of-fact.

"I'm not sure that I agree with that, but fine." The second that the sentence had left Light's lips, L took off into a spirt, dragging Light with him.

* * *

"Hey do you think they want us to race them?" Matsuda wondered as he watching Light and L start to run ahead of the rest of the group.

"Don't be stupid," Soichiro dismissed the idea.

When the team hadn't caught up with the pair twenty-minutes later, Matsuda's idea seemed less far fetched.

"Um, we haven't seen them for a while," Matsuda exercised his talent for speaking the obvious. "Do you think they got off the trail?"

"I'm sure they can follow the markers like the rest of us," Soichiro answered.

"Uh, yeah," Matsuda realized. "You're right."

* * *

"Ryuzaki, have you seen any of the trail markers lately?" Light asked. He gave the chain a sharp tug, causing L to stop long enough for him to survey the lack of markers around him.

"There are trail markers?" L asked innocently.

"Of course there are trail markers!" Light would have dismissed the question as a joke if he hadn't realized long ago that joking was something that L preferred to refrain from doing. "Have you never been on a hike before?"

"Yes, and when you go on a hike you wander around the woods, and when you want to leave a ranger comes to get you." L explained.

"What?" Light prayed that this was one of the rare moment when L actually was trying his hand at humor.

"Well," L drew out the word. "At Wammy's House we did that, but then B bit one of the rangers and we weren't aloud to go on hikes anymore."

Light didn't ask for anymore clarification. He didn't want to know what any of the nonsense that L had just spilled meant. They had a real problem on their hands.

"So, in other words," Light began, not attempting to hide his irritation. "Thanks to you not understanding the concept of a hike, we are now lost."

"I wouldn't say it's entirely my fault," L spoke up. "After all you weren't able to keep track of the trail makers either."

"That's because I was too busy trying to keep up with your sprinting," Light nearly yelled.

"I'd think that someone as obsessed with winning as you would understand that to win a race you have to run faster than your opponents," L replied indignantly.

"First of all," Light's voice was thick with annoyance. "I am not obsessed with winning. And second, what opponents? They were never following us! I doubt that they even realized that we were racing to begin with."

"Yes," L drawled. "I thought that might happen…"

"Then why didn't you let me tell them that you wanted to race?" Light asked in exasperation. "You know what? I give up. We shouldn't be fighting anyway, we should be working together to find our way back to the trail."

"I agree," L told him. "Since we've already established that you were paying more attention to our surroundings than I was, I will let you lead."

"Alright," Light had to admit that he hadn't expected that response. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think if we head to the right we'll eventually meet up with the trail."

L didn't object, so Light began to walk in that direction. He mentally cursed himself for letting them end up in this situation to begin with. Finding their way back could prove to be harder than just making their way toward the direction he hoped lead to the trail.

"Damn, I wish I had taken one of those maps from Matsuda," Light muttered.

"You need maps for hiking too?" L asked.

"Wow, you really do know nothing," Light remarked, though his tone was no longer laced with frustration.

* * *

"It's been a while," Matsuda said hesitantly. "They can't be that far ahead."

"If you're that worried why don't you call Light and tell them to slow down," Aizawa suggested, only half paying attention to Matsuda.

"Okay," Matsuda nodded and pulled out his cellphone. "That's a good idea."

It took seconds for him to fin Light's number in his contact list and even faster for the other phone to pick up. Matsuda couldn't help but sigh in relief. He didn't want to think about the trouble that he would be in if his idea of a fun outing resulted in Light and L getting lost.

"Hello?" A voice that definitely did not belong to Light answered.

"Oh, sorry," Matsuda murmured sheepishly. "I guess I dialed the the wrong number, I meant to call Light."

"This is Light," the voice said cheerfully on the other line.

"No, Misa I can recognize your voice," Matsuda told her.

"No," Misa giggled. "I mean this is Light's phone, silly."

"Oh." This made more sense. "Wait. Why do you have Light's phone?"

"'Cause Ryuzaki gave it to me," Misa answered as if it were obvious.

"Okay," Matsuda gave up trying to make sense of this conversation. "I'm going to hang up now."

"Wait!" Misa exclaimed. "Why do you need to call Light, isn't he with you?"

"Well, not at the moment," Matsuda admitted. He quickly added in a hopeful tone: "But we'll find him!"

"You lost Light?!" Misa's voice was shrill in horror. "Are you telling me Light's lost in the middle of the woods alone?!"

"No," Matsuda assured her. "Ryuzaki's with him."

"That's even worse!" she cried.

"I have to go now," Matsuda blurted before swiftly hanging up. He told himself that he would have to worry about the livid Misa-Misa at a later time, as he turned his attention to the rest of the group. "Guys, I think we have a problem."

* * *

They had been walking over over half an hour now, according to Light's watch. L had made Light switch directions twice after deeming that he was only getting them more lost. Light had tried not to seem irritated by this, but the longer they walked the more he realized that neither of them had a clue where they were going.

"Look, there's a cat," Light let his attention be caught by the small figure not far from them. "I didn't realize that there were strays all the way out here. Hold on for a second."

"You're getting us off track," L complained as Light pulled him in the direction on the cat he had spotted.

"Only a little, and I know where I was headed," Light lied.

"No you don't," L muttered as he watched Light hold out his hand to the cat before petting it. "It may be important to know that Kira has a soft spot for animals."

"I'm not Kira," Light replied automatically. "And I don't have a soft spot for animals. Just cats."

"And what caused this?" L sounded genuinely curious.

"Sayu and I used to have a cat when we where younger," Light informed him. "I mean, it was more her cat than mine. She did most of the work to take care of it, but I still liked having it around."

"What happened to it?" L asked.

"Do I have to explain the circle of life to you as well as hiking?" Light gently ran his hand over the cat's head one last tome before standing up.

"That's not funny," L huffed.

"I think it is," Light was enjoying the rare moment of feeling slightly more intelligent than L.

"I think you're Kira," L said.

"That was an awful comeback," Light informed him.

"I know."

* * *

"I killed Light and Ryuzaki!" Matsuda exclaimed, burying his face in his hands. "This is all my fault!"

"Yeah, it really is," Aizawa remarked.

After not being able to contact Light and L, the task force had decided to return to the entrance of the hike and ask for assistance in finding them. The workers running the hike had completely understood the situation, which made the group curious as to how often people got lost on this hike. The task force were assured that it shouldn't take long to find them and were told to wait outside of the small office near the entrance of the forest for the rangers to return with Light and L. Matsuda had waited until this moment to assume full responsibility for what he was sure was a disaster.

"What am I going to tell Misa-Misa?" He wondered historically. "What am I going to tell the world? Who will catch Kira now?!"

"You need to calm down," Aizawa told him. "I'm sure they'll show up in a couple of minutes."

"What if they don't and it gets dark and they're still lost?" Matsuda rambled. "They could be eaten by wild animals!"

"There aren't any wild animals in these parts," Aizawa nearly rolled his eyes at this statement.

"I saw a stray cat!" Matsuda remembered.

"You really think they'll be eaten by stray cats?" Aizawa questioned.

"Is that possible?!"

* * *

"Let go of my hair," L sternly said to Light. "I'm walking at a regular pace."

"Walk at a slow pace," Light snapped back. "I don't know where you get your stamina from. We've been at this for hours and I'm tired."

"Let go," L repeated.

"Walk slower," Light retorted.

"I will bite you, again," L threatened.

"I pet a stray cat," Light reminded him. "Are you sure you want to put you mouth anywhere near my hand?"

"I will bite your face," L amended.

"That will send mixed signals to everyone here," Light stated.

"Light-kun," L gave Light a slightly concerned look. "We are the only people here."

"It will send mixed signals to me," Light blurted.

"Will it really?" L asked.

"The level of intrigue that I just heard in your voice concerns me," Light muttered, letting go of L's hair.

Without saying anything, L slowed his pace slightly. Light took this opportunity to pull his water bottle out of the small and almost empty bag that he had been carrying. This was the third time that he had taken a drink since they wandered off, his goal had been to make the limited amount that he had last as long as possible. Unfortunately it didn't seem like that would be for much longer.

"I'm running out of water," he told L. "You don't have any, right?"

"Where do you think I'm hiding it?" L asked, gesturing to the fact that he was carrying nothing and only wearing his usual t-shirt and jeans.

"Right," Light muttered. "Do you want some, you're defiantly dehydrated by now."

"You said you were running out," L reminded him. "It would be more strategic to save it."

"When was the last time that you drank anything?" Light asked.

"I had a cup of tea before we left headquarters," L answered honestly.

"Drink this now," Light handed him the water.

"But you're running out," L protested.

"So hurry up before I change my mind," Light responded.

"Thank you."

* * *

"I am going to kill Matsuda," Light stated, dragging his feet through the dirt as he walked.

"Is that a confession?" L asked as he did is best to avoid the dirt cloud that Light was creating.

"No," Light's tone was tense. "It's me expressing my annoyance that we are stuck out here."

"So you do admit that you automatically link annoyance with the desire to kill?" L inquired.

"I'm not Kira," Light practically growled. "And I'm not in the mood to have this conversation."

"6%."

"I don't care!" Light shouted.

* * *

"What do you mean you couldn't find them?" Soichiro asked the park ranger through clenched teeth.

"We're sending another group," the man babbled. "You shouldn't worry, this happens all the time."

"If it happens all the time then why is it taking so long?" Soichiro demanded. "It's going to be dark soon."

"We're doing everything that we can!" The park ranger assured them before quickly leaving the room, no doubt in fear of the now furious Soichiro.

"This is all my fault," Matsuda told Aizawa for the hundredth time.

* * *

"It's getting dark," Light observed uneasily.

"We can stop walking, if that's what you want," L suggested.

"No," Light dismissed. "We should try to find the trail before it gets too late."

"You sound strained," L noticed. "We should rest for a few minutes."

"I don't want to spend the night lost out here," Light's tone was inches away from being frantic.

"Light-kun…" It was clear that L was unsure what to say.

"I'm scared and I want to keep going," Light spoke before L could attempt to comfort him. "Okay?"

"Okay," L sighed.

* * *

"Is there someone else we can call to help?" Matsuda suggested.

Another half an hour had passed since the park ranger has left.

"Yes there is…" An idea dawned on Soichiro.

* * *

"We are going to stop here," L informed, planting his feet firmly for emphasis.

"No, we have to find the trail," Light pulled on the chain to try to get L to move.

"We know that people are looking for us," L tried to reason with him. "At this point the best thing for us to do is to stay put until we're found."

"I can't sit here and do nothing!"

"Yes you can and you're going to." With that L stat down on the dead grass beneath the tree he had stopped in front of.

"Ryuzaki, get up," Light pulled the chain again.

"No."

"You want me to just sit here until they find us?" Light asked angrily.

"It shouldn't take longer than the rest of the night," L told him.

"How can you say that so calmly?" Light wondered as he gave up and slumped next to L.

"Are you afraid of the outdoors or is it the dark that bothers you?" L asked.

"Don't make fun of me," Light seethed.

"My intent was not the make fun of you," L said softly.

"If you weren't so emotionless you'd be upset as well," Light couldn't help snapping.

"7%," L stated.

"What?" Light couldn't believe that L was actually accusing him of being Kira at a time like this.

"I have reasoned that it's neither the dark nor the setting that is upsetting you," L began to explain. "It is the fact that you have no control over our current situation. Kira would want to have control over both his life and the lives of others at all times."

"I'm going to punch you," Light was not joking.

"Then I would hit my head, nock out, and you would have to carry me once help arrived," L smirked as he spoke.

"Turning my words against me isn't funny," Light huffed.

"Really?" L raised an eyebrow. "You seem amused, or at least less afraid than you were a few seconds ago."

"That's only because you're being irritating and it's distracting me," Light retorted.

"You're welcome," L replied.

"Distracted is not the same as comforted," Light informed him.

"In both scenarios you are less afraid," L pointed out. "So I don't see why the difference matters."

"Never mind, Ryuzaki," Light sighed.

* * *

"It's so quiet," Light only spoke to break the silence that was being to wear down at him.

"Would you rather there be noise?" L misinterpreted.

"Never mind," Light rolled his eyes. "I'm going to try to sleep, since you'll probably stay awake all night anyway."

"Goodnight, Light-kun," L murmured.

"Whatever, Ryuzaki," Light exhaled.

Light spent the next five minutes lying completely still and trying to force his mind to turn off for at least a few minutes. He knew that sleeping in the middle of the forest setting was odd, but if he was able to at least it would stop him from worrying for at least a few minutes. If anything happened L would surely wake him up.

No matter how much Light reminded himself of this, the closest he came to drifting off was closing his eyes and lying motionless. When he was about to give up, he heard a soft sniffling sound coming from where he knew L was sitting next to him. At first Light told himself that his tired mind was playing tricks on him, but as the sound continued he knew it wasn't his imagination. L was crying.

"Ryuzaki?" Light asked in a soft voice, pushing himself into a sitting position. L's back was turned to him. "Hey, are you alright?"

He didn't move.

"L?" Light placed a hand on L's shoulder. The detective flinched slightly and quickly turned.

"I thought you were asleep," L whispered.

"It's hard to sleep on the ground," Light told him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," L lowered his gaze to his feet.

"No, you're not fine." Despite the dark atmosphere, Light could see the tear streaks staining L's cheeks. "You're crying, what's wrong?

"Please don't ask that," L's voice sounded more pained than Light had ever heard it.

"You're afraid," Light couldn't stop himself from stating.

"Light…" L whispered, dropping the honorific.

"It's okay," Light swiftly said. "I'm afraid too, which of course you already know. We're going to be alright."

"I know that," L stressed these words.

"Then why are you crying?" Light innocently asked.

"I also prefer situations where I am in control." L's words were almost funny, but the voice that delivered them was so heavy that Light could feel his own fear dissolve and be replaced with concern.

"Come here," Light pulled L into his arms before he could respond.

L's sniffling turning into open sobs, but he didn't try to break away from Light's touch. Instead he leaned his head into Light's chest, his tears wetting the front of Light's shirt. Light wrapped one of his arms around L's back and gently combed his free hand through L's hair. He pushed away thoughts that compared this to him petting the stray cat. He would make that joke at another time.

"What are you doing?" L asked, once he could speak through his tears.

"Comforting you," Light answered. "Or would you prefer to be distracted?"

"I'm not sure you could manage that," L stated.

"Is that a challenge?" Light asked slyly.

"Why not," L answered.

"Alright," Light smirked.

He then pulled back from L slightly, moving his hands to place one on L's shoulder and cup his cheek with the other. A confused expression passed over L's face and Light shot him a quick smile before leaning in. Light's eyes closed the moment that his lips met L's, only giving him a fraction of a second to take in the look of shock displayed on L's face.

Light didn't deepen the kiss, because he told himself this would be crossing a line. He was taken off guard by how disappointed he was by this fact. He tried to remind himself that he was only kissing L to surprise him out of being afraid. Yes, there were times when he would admit that he was attracted to the other man, and maybe this wasn't the first time that he had thought about kissing him. Yet that didn't mean that his feelings went any deeper than a few uncontrollable hormones. Did it?

L was the one to break the kiss. He gently pulled away from Light's lips. Light was glad to see that he had stopped crying.

"You look more stunned than I feel," L smirked.

"Oh," Light sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it worked, didn't it?"

"Yes."

Light was about to say something more before L made a small hop towards him, pressing their lips together again. This time Light didn't stop himself from deepening the kiss. L's hands clutched the collar of Light's shirt, and Light wrapped his arms around L. For the first time Light completely forgot that they were lost in the middle of a failed attempt of a hike. He was pretty sure that L had forgotten as well, that is, until an odd sound broke them apart.

"Is that a helicopter?" Light gapped at the sight above him.

"That's out ride home," L casually stated, shielding his eyes from the search light that the helicopter was emitting.

"What now, it can't land out here," Light pointed out as the search light hit them.

As if the answer his question, a rope ladder was lowered from the top of the helicopter to where L and Light were now standing.

"You're kidding me," Light stated.

"Should I add heights to the list of your fears I learned of today?" From the tone of L's voice and the expression on his face, Light could hardly believe that he had been sobbing only minutes before.

"No."

"Climbing then?"

"I'm not afraid, but how are we supposed to climb with the handcuffs on?" Light pointed out.

"Don't worry," L produced a small key from the pocket of his jeans.

"You had that the whole time?" Light wasn't sure wether he should laugh or cry.

"If I told you then having the handcuffs in the first place would be pointless," L said as he unlocked each handcuff and then stuffed the chain into his pocket. "You'll have to go first, that way it's harder for you to try to kill me."

"I'm not going to try to kill you," Light muttered.

"Never the less, it's a percussion I have to take. You're still a suspect, after all," L reminded him.

"I understand," Light took hold of the ladder.

"Don't look down," L advised.

"Don't make me more nervous than I already am," Light shot back.

"If you fall I'll catch you," L blurted before Light took his first step.

"If I fall I'll probably knock you down with me," Light replied.

"In that case, maybe I should go first."

"Too late," Light put his foot on the first step of the ladder.

* * *

"Thank you, Watari," L said to the driver of the helicopter once both he and Light had safely reach the top.

"I hate hiking," Light told L as the helicopter began the journey back to the entrance of the hike.

"A pointless form of activity," L agreed.

"Well," Light laced with fingers with L's. "At least one good thing came of it."

* * *

 **Okay, so I know this had a few silly/OOC parts (such as L talking about Wammy's House hiking and Matsuda believing that L and Light could be eaten by wild stray cats). My goal was to make this kinda silly. The idea for this came from a hike my sister and I went on in Japan (we also met a stray cat, and had to use hair as a leash).**

 **Thanks for reading! Please review!**


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